The Wrong Step

Book Two of the

Fantastic Adventures Series

By Rene Cournoyer

All rights
reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or
distributed in any form, including digital and electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of
the Publisher, except for brief quotes for use in reviews.

This is a
work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and
incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or
used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Library of Congress: TXu 1-994-391

Cover by Rene Cournoyer

Dedication

I dedicate this book

to my son

Kieran.

Map of Shendale

Sticky’s home is in the tall tree.

Robyn’s home is in the shorter tree.

Dumbley’s little cave is on the left.

Memory Lane

Here’s a walk down
memory lane. For those of you who have read Book 1, ‘The Fantastic
Adventures of Sticky.’ These are the highlights of the adventures
that Sticky and his friends have encountered so far.

If you haven’t read
these books, you should go back and read Book 1. It’s best if
they’re read in order.

In book one,

The search for
Faylin began when they left the humble village of Shendale.

They met Chris
on their way to Avondale.

Robyn healed his
bruised knee.

They all
searched for his dog Spotalot and found him on an island.

When they
returned in the rowboat they arrived in, it sprung a leak and sank.
Dumbley almost drowned trying to play Captain of the rowboat.

Spotalot was
returned to Chris.

The adventurers
meet Emerald. She’s lost, and they bring her home to her family.

They make it to
Willowdale and help the George family fix their fence.

Robyn heals
their daughter Linda.

George offered
to let Sticky drive his wagon.

Sticky got the
horses off to a quick start.

They arrived in
one piece.

I invite everyone to
expand your imaginations and travel with Sticky, Robyn, and Dumbley
as they continue on their adventure—enjoy!

Chapter 1

Nap Time

Samantha climbed out of
the wagon. “Will you please excuse me? I have to tend to my
daughter who isn’t feeling well. She’s been sick for a while.”

“What’s wrong with
her?” Robyn inquired.

“I don’t know. She
won’t stop sweating and she has a fever.”

“Would you mind if I
had a look at her?” Robyn offered. “I use energy to heal with.
It’s new in these parts and it’s very effective.”

“Please do. I don’t
know what else to do. She’s not getting any better with my
healing.”

“It would be my honor
to help her out.”

“The heavens are
shining upon us with you being here today,” praised Samantha as she
smiled and looked up at the sky.

Dumbley looked to see
what she was looking at and didn’t see a thing. He was confused and
scratched his head. “If you say so, I’ll have to take your word
on it.”

Robyn jumped out of the
wagon and joined Samantha while the others rode off to fix the fence.
When they reached the girl’s room, Robyn could see the girl was in
bad shape.

“Hello, my name is
Robyn and I’m a friend of your moms’. I asked her if I could take
a look and see if I can heal you.”

“Okay,” moaned the
little girl. Her soft dwarven skin glistened with the sweat of a
fever. Her black, shiny hair was in disarray and matted to the sides
of her face.

“What’s your name?”
Robyn inquired.

“Linda,” she
replied in a raspy tone. “I’m Linda George and I don’t feel
good.”

“What a beautiful
name. How old are you, Linda? Wait! Don’t tell me, you’re at
least twenty, or maybe twenty-five.”

“No,” said Linda as
she giggled and coughed a little. “I’m ten and a half years old
and five days. I’ll be eleven real soon.”

“Ah, what a wonderful
age,” Robyn said in an admiring tone. “For now, I’ll need you
to lie completely still so I can heal you. I promise this won’t
hurt at all. Not even a little.”

Robyn raised her hands
as they began to sparkle. She put her hands a few inches over Linda’s
tummy. She cleared her mind except for the happy thoughts of Linda
feeling better.

“I’m sorry, I don’t
understand what’s ailing her,” Samantha admitted. She stood in
the bedroom doorway holding a glass of fresh dew water she collected
earlier from the beautiful flowers in her garden.

“I don’t need to
know what’s wrong, I’ll put the energy into her body and it’ll
know where it’s needed the most. It’s what I love about it.”

“I’ve never seen
healing like this before. It scares me when there’s no medicine
involved. I’m praying for it to work the best it can.”

Robyn smiled. “Who or
whatever you’re praying to, I’m sure they’re smiling down on
you. I know this style of healing is new to you. However, I can
assure you, Linda will be feeling better soon. Energy healing is
great.”

Robyn worked on Linda
for a while longer. “Okay, my part of the healing is done for now,”
she said as she took her hands away and the sparkles slowly faded
out.

“This is incredible!
I’m finding all of this hard to believe that’s it actually
happening to her!” Samantha exclaimed. “She’s no longer
sweating.” Tears of relief and joy filled her eyes. “I can’t
believe it. She’s getting better.” She ran over and gave Robyn a
big hug.

“She still has a
fever, so what she needs now is rest. The energy will continue to
work, and she’ll feel better by morning. She’ll need plenty of
water. It’s very important. The energy needs water so it can heal
better.”

“Thanks so much,”
Samantha said as she set down the glass of dew water. “I’m hoping
she can sleep through the night.”

She and Robyn went
downstairs to relax. “Would you like to join me for a cup of
weeping willow bark tea? It’s nice and hot.”

“I would love to. I
love tea.”

Meanwhile, the other
adventurers went with George to help with the broken fence.

“There’re only a
few sections which need immediate fixing,” George explained to
them. “We also have a bunch of small repairs to tend to afterward.
It doesn’t take much force from a scared horse or cow to push
through a weakened fence. Let’s split up and we’ll each take
three or four sections to fix. We should be able to finish it all by
nightfall.”

Dumbley went to work on
his sections. “I like this kind of work,” he thought to himself.
He stopped for a second, grabbed a piece of bread and popped a piece
in his mouth. “Yup, I like fixing the fence. I need to remember to
fill my pockets with more snacks next time. This kind of work makes
me extra hungry.”

When Dumbley finished,
he walked along the fence to where Sticky was supposed to be working,
and called out, “Hey Sticky, I’m here to help if you haven't
finished yet.” He looked around and didn’t see anyone. There were
no repairs done to the sections he was supposed to me mending. “You
better not be sleeping.”

“Where did you go,
skinny elf?” he yelled out. He walked over a little hill and found
him. He was propped up against a fence post and sleeping like a baby
elf all snuggled in a cradle.

Dumbley walked up to
him, leaned over as he got close to his ear and yelled, “Wake up!
Get up now you lost and tired elf!”

“I can’t believe
you’re sleeping while the rest of us are out here working hard!”

“I sat down for a
nap. I have to build up my strength, so I can work harder.”

“Can’t you do the
job you’re supposed to do and you can rest all you want when it’s
done?”

“Yes, you can count
on me. No more naps for this silly elf. After all, I was born lost,
tired and almost ready to fix a broken fence.”

“You need to finish
your sections while I work over here,” Dumbley demanded as he
pointed his thick, stubby finger at Sticky. “No more sleeping until
we finish the job.”

“I won’t go to
sleep on the job. I promise I won’t nap until the job’s done, not
even a wink. I won’t even sit down. Consider it done. Yes, sir. It
will be the best fen…”

“That’s enough
already!” said Dumbley as he interrupted him “Please do your job.
I’ll be back when I finish the sections I’m working on.”

Chapter 2

The Fence

Sticky grabbed a fence
railing and swung it over his shoulder. He didn’t realize Dumbley
was still standing behind him. He thought he had left to fix his
sections of fence. The other end of the railing came crashing down on
Dumbley’s head.

It knocked him to the
ground in a split second. With stars floating around his head, he
stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants. He shook his head and
body around to get his balance back and to get rid of the dizziness
he still felt. He was trying to not fall over.

Sticky, knowing he had
hit something, spun around to his left to see what it was. As he
turned, the railing on his shoulder swung around and hit Dumbley in
the head. There was a loud crack and it sent Dumbley crashing to the
ground once again. He had a hard time getting up as more stars
circled his head. He was dizzier than before. He had to try to stand.

He didn’t get a
chance to stand up and collect his senses when Sticky spun around
again to his right to see what was happening.

This time, Dumbley saw
the railing coming for his head. He put his hand up and grabbed the
railing. With the stars still spinning in his head, he drew in a deep
breath and yelled, “Stop! All right already!” He stood up and
brushed himself off. “Can’t you watch what you’re doing? You’re
going to kill me! You’ve already hit me twice!”

He grabbed the railing
Sticky was still holding and leaned back. This lifted the railing
high in the air. Sticky, who was now scared, hung on even tighter. He
was afraid to let go. Dumbley raised the railing until it was
straight up and down. He held him there for a second as he thought of
his next move.

With Sticky now above
him, he drove the railing deep into the ground. The fence post now
looked like a pencil with a skinny elf on the end of it instead of an
eraser.

Afterward, he stepped
away from the post and looked up. Sticky was hanging on for dear
life. He moved forward again, grabbed the railing and shook it.
Sticky now waved back and forth like a flag in the wind.

“I am really sorry!”
Sticky called down to Dumbley. “I didn’t mean it hurt you. I’ve
never done this kind of work before. I didn’t know what to look out
for, especially things like your head. Can you please stop the
shaking me around like I was a flag?”

Dumbley stopped it and
took a few steps back. He watched as Sticky spiraled down the railing
and was back on the ground.

“I had plans to fling
you across the pasture. However, I realize you didn’t know what you
were doing. It’s okay. I should have helped you more when we got
here.”

“Thanks for not
flinging me,” Sticky sighed with a note of relief. “The landing
might have been tough. I wasn’t born to be flung. I was born lost,
tired and definitely an un-flung elf.”

“I want you to repeat
this with me,” instructed Dumbley. “I promise not to nap.”

When they both repeated
his words, Dumbley got Sticky with, “Pokey-poke, you owe me a
joke,” and he lightly poked Sticky in the arm. “Hah, I got you. I
got you real good.”

“I have to admit, you
did get me good. I have a riddle instead of a joke. If you’re
running in a race and you pass the person in second place, what place
would you in?”

“Why did you pick
such an easy one for me to do? I’d be in first place.”

“Ah nope, you would
be in second place.”

Dumbley scratched his
head a few times and then he got it. “I guess you got me back. It’s
a nice play on the words. Now we're even.”

Sticky checked to make
sure he wasn’t going to whack Dumbley again with a post and he went
to work. He thought to himself while he was working, “This job is
for dwarves, not elves. Dwarves like hard work. I don’t like hard
work. The toughest thing I like to do all day is make my bed after
taking my nap.”

Sticky found he could
get more work done when he’s not always taking nap breaks. He
finished the fence sooner than he expected. He thought to himself,
“I’ll follow the fence to see if I can find Dumbley. I hope I can
catch him sleeping. It would make my day and it will let me take
another nap. Yes, one nap coming up.”

It didn’t take long
to find Dumbley, and when he did, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
Dumbley had finished all his repairs, plus six more sections and he
wasn’t napping.

“Dumbley, I can’t
believe what you’ve done here. You were born to fix fences. I’ve
never seen such quick work and done so well.”

“Thank you,” said
Dumbley as he humbly bowed to the compliment he received.

“I now understand how
you can eat three bowls at a time. You’re a hardworking dwarf. I
was hoping to catch you napping, and you never did. It’s not fair I
tell you. If you were napping, it would have meant I could nap.”

They finished the job
much sooner than expected, thanks to Dumbley’s speedy work.

“Sticky, you’ve
proven you don’t need to nap every five minutes. You’ve also
proven that a little hard work won’t kill you.”

“Yes, I guess you’re
right. It’s a good feeling of accomplishment. However, don’t tell
anyone else I went this long without taking a nap, it would ruin my
reputation. I still like taking my naps. I’m going to need one
soon.”

“They say miracles
happen every day. For you to finish the rest of your work without a
nap has to be one of the greatest miracles—ever. I don’t think
they make greater ones.”

“Why thank you, I
like the sound of it. I’m a miracle. A miracle who needs a long
nap.”

“You finished your
sections, didn’t you? Do I need to go back and check your work?”

“No, you don’t have
to check it, Dumbley. I finished all of my work.”

George pulled up with
the wagon. “You guys have done an excellent job. I can’t thank
you enough. This would have taken me weeks to do and I would have
lost a few horses and cows. Thanks to you, I haven’t lost one.”

He scooted over on the
wagon seat to make room, “Come on and climb aboard. We’ll head
back to the house and get some of the good food I know they’re
cooking for us.”

Dumbley’s ears perked
up and twitched a bit. “You said food. Did I hear you say food? My
most favorite thing to do is eating food.”

“If you love food,
then you’re going to love Samantha’s cooking,” said George.
“She loves to cook large meals for hard workers like us. She’ll
make a boat load of food for us.”

“Stop it. You’re
making my mouth water. I can’t wait to get my hands on some food. I
brought some bread with me. It didn’t come close to filling up my
grumbly tummy.”

George smiled.
“Patience, my friend, there’ll be plenty of food for your grumbly
tummy. You’ll be full before you know it.”

Sticky yelled, “We
are off on our Fantastic Adventure! Plus, we’ll be embarking on a
side adventure of seeing Dumbley eat like an ox.”

“Yes, I do need some
food, all I can think about is food,” Dumbley admitted.

“I can’t wait to
finish eating so I can do my favorite pastime, taking a nap and when
I wake up, I’ll take another snooze,” Sticky muttered as he
yawned. “I’ve never worked so hard before in my life. Add one
more nap to the list of naps. Whew, it’s tiring when I talk about
all this sleep. Now I’m going to need another snooze after the
others. I think it would be easier if you woke me up next week.”

“A dwarf I am not. I
was born a lost, tired and a not ready to work on fences kind of
elf.”

“Sticky, how would
you like the honors of driving the wagon home?” George inquired.

“If you really trust
me, then I’d love to drive us back and I promise to go slow.”

He took the reins from
him and raised them high over his head like he was going to take off
fast again. He looked to his left and saw George gawking at him with
his mouth open and a horror-stricken look on his face.

“I’m kidding,”
Sticky laughed as he lowered his hands and gave a gentle snap to the
reins. He brought the horses to a trot. The wagon with its passengers
arrived safely at the George’s home. Sticky was proud of himself.
He was all smiles as they pulled up.